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Welcome to eWillys.com, a website for vintage jeep enthusiasts. I update this website nearly every day with jeep deals, jeep history, interesting reader projects, jeep related info, and more.
These quick searches can help you find things on eBay. People list in the wrong categories all the time, so don't be surprised to see brochures in the parts area for example. This section used to be split into jeeps, parts and other categories, but recent changes to eBay will require this information to be recoded.
The links to posts below show jeeps grouped by models, condition, and other ways. Some of these jeeps are for sale and others have been sold. If you are unsure whether a vehicle is still for sale or not, email me at d [at] ewillys.com for more info.
There are plenty of interesting, unusual, historic and surprising stories related to Jeeps and their owners. In addition, some of these features have nothing to do with jeeps. This link will display all featured stories starting from the latest.
Looking for parts and not sure where to go? There are a variety of large and small new and used parts sellers both online and offline.
Importantly, the allure of buying a project jeep can be romantic. The reality of restoring a jeep can be quite different, expensive and overwhelming without the right tools and resources. So, tread carefully when purchasing a "project". If you have any concerns about buying a vintage jeep, or run across a scam, feel free to contact me for help, comments or concerns .
This 34-page May 1951 Form No. SWC1-10M-551 wagon comparison brochure is one I’d never seen before it hit eBay. The size is about 5.5″ by 11″. It’s not in the best of shape, but it’s there and readable. The front page has a rectangle cut out so that the table of contents on page three shows through cover.
I wonder if an equivalent brochure was made for the truck? I doubt anything was made for the universal jeep, as there wasn’t much to compare to it by 1951.
I wasn’t aware that Kaiser Willys put out a series of Commercial and Jeep Sales Bulletins, but I now have examples of at least four of these that I will publish over the next week or so. It’s unclear how many were published or how long this lasted.
This particular example, dated October 08, 1954, welcomed Warn Locking and Automatic hubs to the Willys Special Equipment Line. To the best of my knowledge, it was the first time Willys included hubs in its Special Equipment line. As of 1954, Warn was likely the largest producers of hubs. Free-Lock quickly became the second largest producer of hubs, but that wouldn’t be until 1956 (See Free-Lock Hubs history for more info). To the best of my knowledge, Free-Lock was never added to the Willys Special Equipment Line.
Steve shared this photo from the Just-A-Car-Guy website, which was in turn was shared from a French(?) website. This looks to be a three or four-door Hy-Rail wagon. You can learn more about these at Willyscountry.com.
Andy shared this one. Starting bid is $129.99.
View all the information on eBay
“Vintage 1950s RARE Dealership Promo JEEP Willys FC 150 or FC 170 TRUCK Chrome Ashtray”
This eight-page 1965 Jeep News Volume 11 Number 2 begins by announcing the Vigilante V-8 engine. Unmentioned in the news article was the response by recent purchasers of the six cylinder models, which was a unanimous, “Wow, I coulda had a V8!” .. or am I confusing that with another product? Pages 2-7 continue with more V-8 info, along with marketing and dealer info.
Page eight reports on the 1965 Chicago Auto Show. Jeep showcased eleven vehicles, all decked in a prairie gold color with black vinyl interior trim, which got me thinking … what did Willys Motors and Kaiser Jeep do over the years with their specially trimmed auto show vehicles? Looking back to the 1959 Chicago Auto show (Feb 1959 Jeep News), it was reported that all the vehicles at that show had been sold. Moreover, the display featured a full line of “Willys approved special equipment”, but by 1965 note the second largest word that appears on the display wall: “fun“… the word is written in what might be described as a playful font and style. Moreover, it’s hard to see a piece of special equipment (but the pic on page eight doesn’t show the best view; I tried to find some better pics). I’m beginning to wonder it the marketing firm hired in 1964 had something to do with the shift in perspective, from “useful” vehicles to “fun” vehicles. That could explain it.
UPDATE: My apologies for leaving out Bob’s name from this post! Thanks Barry.
Keith Buckley (aka Joe Friday) and Bob Westerman (aka Bob W.) narrate a video for Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum showing off the museum’s cutaway jeep. It’s pretty neat setup. The museum is located in Chicago, Illinois.
With the warming weather, I’ve spent some time removing wiring, disassembling the brake (no clutch) and taking apart the steering. It’s clear there is more work than I anticipated, so eWillys will likely drop to an every-three day event or so, especially with Ann pretty much bed-bound for the time being (aggravated shoulder and migraines from the season changing). So, I have limited time.
Back to the FC … Formerly, the steering shaft used three knuckle joints to go from the steering wheel shaft, make a 90 degree turn to head towards the passenger side and over the frame, then a roughly 70 degree turn to head along the frame before reaching the rack and pinion.
To make those turns, the column began its first angle while in the cab, which caused it to dive into the floor near the brake pedal. Given I am moving the break pedal into it’s original location (with a dual brake master cylinder following this strategy** .. see bottom of post for additional note), that means I want to make a straight shot from the steering wheel to the floor, before making my turn under the floor. But, to do that, I need something to make a ninety degree steering turn. It turns out that in 2019, Flaming River built an award winning product to do just that.
Here’s how it looked before I disassembled it:
Here’s the dash off and much of the wiring removed:
Here’s where the brake was positioned (easier to see with parts removed):
This shows it with the floor panel removed:
From the underside, with most of the column removed, it looks like this:
This is the best pic. It shows how I need to go over the frame, travel about 10″, then make a 90 degree angle upward, with a slight angle toward the back. The best solution seems the most expensive. Note the shaft isn’t bent; that’s an optical illusion due to the wide-angle.
